BEIJING — China has proposed rules to limit foreign investment in real estate amid quickening efforts to cool the surging economy, an official news agency said July 24.

Under the new rules, foreigners would face "restrictions on residential property purchases," the Xinhua News Agency said, without giving details. It also said developers would be required to invest more of their own money in projects to reduce heavy borrowing.

The rules are meant to "improve the efficiency of using foreign investment," Xinhua said. It did not say when they would take effect.

A report last month by Dow Jones Newswires said the rules would limit foreigners to buying homes only for their own use, and government approval would be required to sell or to transfer properties.

China has had limited success in attempts to control frenzied building of factories, luxury apartment and other projects that has turned its cities into forests of construction cranes. The government said last week that the number of new construction projects jumped by 22.2 percent in the first half of the year, fueling a stunning 11.3 percent rise in economic growth in the second quarter, the highest rate in a decade.